Boston Massacre Site

In front of the Old State House, a circle of cobblestones commemorates the Boston Massacre.

At this site, tensions between the colonists and British soldiers erupted into violence on March 5, 1770. A minor dispute between a wigmaker's young apprentice and a British sentry turned into a riot. The relief soldiers that came to the aid of the British were met by an angry crowd of colonists who hurled snowballs, rocks, clubs, and insults. The soldiers fired into the crowd and killed five colonists. Samuel Adams and other patriots called the event a "massacre".